To censor is to have some to go through all possible information available to a community and supress items that seem objectionable to those who are in charge. This has grown into specific categories, which include the internet. Internet censorship has many different branches with stem from different ultimate goals. Some censorship is the product of concerned parents wanting to protect their children from inappropriate content on the internet. Other censorship comes from governments or authoritarians wanting to control their nation’s access to information. Either way, access to certain web sites is blocked by the person or people in power because these sites are deemed undesirable by the people in power. Censorship is not limited to parents or governments as there are programs know as web filters, used by companies and schools, just for an example, to black unwanted websites.
At the domestic level many parents buy these programs to help supervise their children’s internet access at all times, as it is very difficult to watch what they are doing at all times. These programs usually use black lists and keyword blocking to help parents decide what they want their children to see. Blacklists are compiled by the web filter’s creators and most programs offer updates of these list for free. Keyword blocking is pretty straight forward, as certain pages are blocked by the filter when keywords show up on that web site. Firewalls are also another option to censor the content that children see. This allows on safe information to move from the internet to your computer and keep unwanted content out. This option is a lot more work and for those of you who are technologically challenged, programs such as Net Nanny, CYBERsitter or Safe Eyes (rated top three internet filter software’s of 2010 by Top ten Reviews) are recommended.
Internationally, governments use filtering or firewalls to restrict access to the internet for their respective countries. This is more common than you think. Even the United States has policies that restrict a few websites, but they are nothing compared to other countries. China is one of the most well-known for censorship due to the Great Firewall of China. It searches new websites and restrict access in real time! That is insane! China also has Jingjing and Chacha, the cartoon mascots for internet policing. They are used to show people that the internet is policed as well as the outside world and let internet users know what is legal or not legal to write or consult on the internet.
Jingjing
Chacha
Now there are many opponents to censorship, as people don’t usually take this kind of thing lying down, but it will be discussed on another page!
At the domestic level many parents buy these programs to help supervise their children’s internet access at all times, as it is very difficult to watch what they are doing at all times. These programs usually use black lists and keyword blocking to help parents decide what they want their children to see. Blacklists are compiled by the web filter’s creators and most programs offer updates of these list for free. Keyword blocking is pretty straight forward, as certain pages are blocked by the filter when keywords show up on that web site. Firewalls are also another option to censor the content that children see. This allows on safe information to move from the internet to your computer and keep unwanted content out. This option is a lot more work and for those of you who are technologically challenged, programs such as Net Nanny, CYBERsitter or Safe Eyes (rated top three internet filter software’s of 2010 by Top ten Reviews) are recommended.
Internationally, governments use filtering or firewalls to restrict access to the internet for their respective countries. This is more common than you think. Even the United States has policies that restrict a few websites, but they are nothing compared to other countries. China is one of the most well-known for censorship due to the Great Firewall of China. It searches new websites and restrict access in real time! That is insane! China also has Jingjing and Chacha, the cartoon mascots for internet policing. They are used to show people that the internet is policed as well as the outside world and let internet users know what is legal or not legal to write or consult on the internet.
Now there are many opponents to censorship, as people don’t usually take this kind of thing lying down, but it will be discussed on another page!